The Ontario Liberal Party has filed a formal complaint with Elections Ontario regarding what appears to be illegal fundraising activities by the Progressive Conservative Party of Ontario (PCPO), and its Leader Doug Ford (attached here).

Mr. Ford’s alleged violation of the Act was first reported on the Toronto Star’s website on May 16, 2018 indicating that on April 29, 2018, Mr. Ford attended a fund-raising event where attendees were required to pay an admission price of up to $2,000.00.

The complaint outlines multiple violations of the Act including:

The attendance of Mr. Ford at the event;

The selling of a ticket well in excess of the maximum allowed contribution, and;

The fact neither the event or the donors to the event were publically disclosed in accordance with the Act.

“We trust Elections Ontario will investigate what appears to be an exceptionally clear violation of the Act,” said the Legal Counsel for the Ontario Liberal Party Jack Siegel.

We noted with interest that the Conservative Party spokesperson stated last night that any money raised at the event that was given to the campaign as a donation “will be returned to the donors” suggesting the Party did not even begin to act on their violations until caught by the Toronto Star,” Siegel added.